


Cult of the Unknown: The Beginning

by Chaos_creature



Series: Cult of the unknown [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Action, Aliens, Angst, Blood and Gore, Corrupted Police, Crazy, Creepy, Cults, Demons, Dragon Cult, Fantasy elements, Fights, Gen, Ghosts, Inspired by Music, Magic, Mystery, Spirits, Voodoo, church, dragon people, giant cat and mouse game, inspired by creepypasta, trio turned heroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24747862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaos_creature/pseuds/Chaos_creature
Summary: Cerlin is a quiet town with a dark secret. Follow three friends as they uncover the secret of the town and unknowingly become the only things that could stop the approaching apocalypse.
Series: Cult of the unknown [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789573





	1. A mystery has arisen

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first full length story but i'm really passionate about this story and world, hope you enjoy. I will update and edit as i see fit, so the updates may not be frequent.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet jade and Nathan as they start their journey with a vlog post.

Jade Allens was a reporter for a local book store in her home town of Cerlin, that made their own books based upon her and her partners findings, with a few exaggerations of course. Jade was a lean girl with rusty brown coloured hair that hung down past her shoulders in a loose ponytail and pale blue eyes, she usually dressed simply with a t-shirt, hoody, jeans and boots, she gave off a tomboy vibe to others. Jade’s partner was a somewhat thin boy named Nathan Barler who was stronger than he looked, he had dirty blond hair that sat like a messy mop on his head and chocolate brown eyes, he usually dressed in slacks and a t-shirt with a game or movie symbol on it, a very approachable guy.

Jade and Nathan were currently sitting in a fast food restaurant trying to find something to write about, but they couldn’t find anything interesting. Searching through the daily paper, Nathan scanned for any unfinished or ongoing articles while Jade slouched in her chair, phone centimetres from her face while she searched the internet for unsolved mysteries, supernatural encounters, unexplained events, scary sightings exedra. A few minutes passed before Jade sat up straight and excitedly stared at Nathan. Lowering the paper, Nathan gave a questioning look to his partner as she giddily stared at him, this has only one meaning, she found an interesting topic.

“Nathan check this out it’s a local blogger talking about their encounter with something strange.” Jade said quickly out of excitement.

“Okay, calm down and show me.” Nathan chuckled

Getting up Jade walked around their table and bent down to show the article to her partner. The article detailed the persons alleged encounter with a strange group of masked people in the forest. The blog also brought up the subject of ongoing rumours around town being true and the theories that came with them such as the group is a warning for the apocalypse, angels of death, supernatural beings and so on. Jade has heard the rumours before, but it never really peeked her interest until it had some proof behind it plus she was desperate for some work. 

The anonymous blogger went on to explain that they only saw four figures and maybe a weapon being held by one, they described, as best they could, how each figure looked in the moment of contact. 

The weather was misty as they walked along a local hiking trail early in the morning with their dog, a German Shepard named Molly. They had gotten far down the trail when Molly started to growl and bared her teeth, glaring into the woods to their right. The blogger was confused by her sudden aggression and tried to find what she was growling at within the forest, scanning the trees they didn’t find anything, the blogger took a few steps forward to see further into the forest when they saw a slight movement. Squinting, the blogger could see what seemed to be a figure, thinking it could be someone in need of help they take a few more steps until they were at the edge of the foliage, the blogger focused on the figure when they suddenly noticed three more figures around the first. The figures seemed to be circled around something in the shrubbery, slight whispering could be heard from the group, but it was barely noticeable over Mollies growling, the blogger couldn’t tell if they had noticed them or not through the mist.

A slight breeze blew through the trees, dissipating some of the mist, the blogger could start to make out some features of the quartet, one seemed to be wearing a black tuxedo? With black pants and shoes while also wearing something on their face, they also had two long accessories hanging from their pants, this person was slightly turned away from the blogger, so it was difficult to see many features. One that was directly facing anonymous had a silver hoodie on with dark loose-fitting pants, they also had something on their face, concentrating more the blogger saw that it was a mask sporting an ear to ear smile and happily arched eye holes with flowers sprawled around the face with a large flower around their left eye hole, they were staring down at something. The other two were harder to see as one was partially hidden behind a tree and the other was facing away from anonymous. The one behind the tree was the most odd because they were wearing what seemed to be a black cloak, their face was concealed by a white mask with a black frown and a sad arched eye hole with a vertical black line over it, reminding them of a clowns make up, there was also a small jagged marking on the side of the eye. The figure facing away from the blogger was described to have shoulder length straight hair with a dark blue feathered cape draped over their shoulders, the blogger could also scarcely make out the tips of two small object protruding over the figures head.  
The blogger was then snapped out of their observational trance when Molly let out a loud bark grabbing the attention of the quartet. The five stared at each other in shock but suddenly the figure behind the tree swung around and hit the tree in front of them with an unknown object, a loud chipping sound filled the air as the other three figures started towards the blogger and dog. Anonymous didn’t stay to see the object, they ran as fast as they could away from the area with their dog right behind them still barking wildly. As they sprinted they could hear four more sets of feet close behind them, they were so close anonymous could almost feel their breath on the back of their neck. Anonymous’ lungs burned from the sharp intakes of breath, but the town was in sight, they weren’t giving up now. The thumping of feet grew quiet as they neared town, the sound completely stopping once they landed a foot on the pavement of a sidewalk. Turning around and gazing along the trail there was no sign of the group or any evidence that they had been there, anonymous was not going to search for evidence, they tugged the leash and quickly walked home. 

The article ends after that. After reading it Nathan also seemed as intrigued as Jade, giving her a wide smile Nathan got up and wordlessly packed up his things. Both reporters left the restaurant grinning and sharing glances before hoping into a taxi and leaving for the location of the story. 

They walked along the trail that the blogger had travelled during their story searching the shrubbery for anything suspicious. It was around mid-day and the sun was shining nicely allowing the duo to clear visuals between the trees. Stopping for a rest Nathan walked to the side of the trail to relieve himself, while he was doing his business Nathan’s eye wandered around the scenery landing on an area of foliage that had been flattened. Finishing up Nathan called out to Jade before walking up to the area.

“What did you find?” asked Jade as she came to her partners side.

“All this foliage has been flattened as if something trampled it. Do you think it’s the spot from the blog?” Nathan questioned his partner.

“Maybe. Let’s check it out.” Stated Jade.

Jade walked into the broken plants and followed the trail a little way into the forest until she came to a circular flat patch of grass. Looking around a little, Jade noticed that a tree towards the trail had a horizontal gash in it, the mark looked as if it was made by a blade, Jade also noticed that the wood in and around the cut was rotting away. Nathan stared at his partner as she made her way into the forest, he was judging whether the visual of the figures were plausible too see under the misty conditions. 

As Jade searched the area something suddenly came to mind. If the blog had been posted a few days ago wouldn’t the plants look more alive? And the area should have been harder to find because of the new plants growing. Squatting down to get a closer look at the ground Jade found that the plants were recently broken and crushed. Looking through the flora Jade could see long markings in the dirt leading from the circular area to the trail, Jade couldn’t tell which way the marks were supposed to go. Getting up Jade walked to the circle, trying to find where the marks originated from or at least find where they went. 

Nathan had been watching Jade walk around and inspect every little detail of the sight, she seemed a little confused as she squatted down and searched the ground before becoming more perplexed by something, getting up and wander back to her original spot in the circle. Nathan walked over to his partner and joined her to help inspect the sight. Turning in slow circles while searching his surroundings Nathan heard an odd sound. Like a light whisper on the breeze. Nathan stopped his actions and stood still trying to hear the odd sound. Not hearing anything Nathan turned to Jade who was still digging through the forest floor.

“Did you hear that?” questioned Nathan.

“No. Why?” Jade asked not taking her eyes off the ground.

“There was a whisper, I think it was a whisper, it was very quiet almost like it was the wind” Nathan nervously explained while looking around.

Jade looked curiously up at Nathan before giving him a soft smile and saying, “Maybe it was the wind and your just paranoid from the blog.” Jade gave a teasing smile at the last part.

“I’m not scared from the blog! I swear I heard something!” Nathan exclaimed at his partner.

“Alright, alright. Jeez you don’t have to get so defensive I was only teasing. Anyway, come here I think I found something.” Jade gestured for Nathan to come over with her hand.

Giving a soft sigh Nathan took a few steps closer to his partner with a small pout on his face from Jade brushing off his worries. Bending down, Nathan observed the ground as Jade moved a small patch of weeds out of the way. Looking at the ground Nathan saw what looked like small scuff marks in the soil, they were uneven and seemed to zig zag in different directions which left some deeper markings. Observing closer Nathan also noticed that little round spots were splattered through the dirt, some were in clusters while others were far apart. Following the red spots Nathan gazed curiously forward, noticing that some plants were also tinged red. Getting up Nathan carefully made his way along the small trail until he heard a quiet “squish” sound. 

Jade was concentrating on her find trying to figure out what happened when she was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by Nathan letting out a loud yelp. Quickly getting up, Jade ran to Nathans side when she suddenly slid forward. Waving her arms about to regain her balance and finding her footing Jade straitened her back as she gazed down to see what she had slipped on. Jades eyes widened as she found her shoes covered in a red tinged layer of mud. Taking a deep breath in to compose herself Jade was hit by the smell of iron, it was faint because of the mud but the smell was diffidently there.

Looking back up at a shocked Nathan, Jade made a slow retreat to his side trying hard not to fall over the sludge. Clasping a hand on Nathans shoulder she inspected her boot.

“This is blood isn’t it.” Jade asked to no one in particular. After staring at her boot Jade gave a sideways glance at Nathan who was still staring at the substance.  
“Nathan it’s okay this could just be some animals blood. It could just be a dumb prank, or the blogger could have put this here for sceptics and reporters like us.” Jade said trying to make sense of the scenario while knowing completely that no animal or desperate blogger could make such a contained mess.  
“yeah, I think we found enough for today, let’s go home.” Nathan breathed out in a shaky voice.

Jade nodded as she turned and started making her way to the trail. Nathan stayed frozen for a few moments before turning around. Before he could take a step forward Nathan heard a silent chuckle from behind him. Not wanting to turn around Nathan sprinted after his partner and quickly caught up to her, Jade not paying any attention to his panicked body language.

As they walked two figures watched them from afar, hidden within the tree tops. They sat quietly in the branches, their masked faces giving a dead stare towards the male reporter. Quietly gazing at one another they jumped silently to the ground, turning away from the duo in unison and vanished into the forest.


	2. friends are friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade and Nathan go to ask a friend from the police force to help them out. Jade is a little feisty when offended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear no matter how much i try to make characters serious they just end up being goof balls. enjoy the chapter!

The next day Jade and Nathan walked around Cerlin trying to find more information on the mysterious group. Nathan was still a little shocked from the events that unfolded the day before. His mind was racing with thoughts that merged and made no sense, but he kept his worry to himself, Nathan knew that he shouldn’t be overreacting, but he had heard voices in those woods. Even if Jade had heard the voice she probably would have played it off just like she had before which made Nathan question if she really didn’t hear it.

Jade gave a quick glance up at her partner, who seemed to be deep in thought before asking, “Where would we find more info on rumors?”

Nathan jerked up at the question, “I don’t know. Maybe the people who started them?” Nathan suggested halfheartedly.

Jade gave an unimpressed look to Nathan, “And how would we know who they are or find where they live. Plus, it would be awkward for two reporters to show up on someone’s door step demanding they tell us how they started the rumors of a masked group that lives in the woods.” Jade stated sassily.

“Fine maybe we could ask the school or something, there’s always rumors going around there.” Nathan sarcastically suggested.

Jade stopped walking causing Nathan to stop a few steps in front of her. Nathan turned to look at her with a half smug face. She was getting annoyed with Nathan uncooperative, “Sure let’s go harass children about rumors like crazy people, we would get arrested for harassment of children.” Jade lightly glared at her friend, but her face softened as she sighed. “Look if there is truth behind the rumors then what we found yesterday was evidence that something is going on in this town. We found something out in those woods and you heard voices, we’re already in too deep to back out and be fine. If those were voices in the woods than someone may have been there without us knowing and has probably put us on a to kill list. We might as well expose these people before we die.” Jade stared her friend in the eye.

“I know that if I’m destined to die because of this report then I’m gonna make it the best report I ever wrote, with or without your help.” Jade huffed as she began walking again.

Nathans smug look dropped as he watched his friend pass him. Thinking on what Jade had said, Nathan concluded that it wasn’t her fault that they saw the blood, she was probably as affected as he was but didn’t want to show it. Jade was always the brave and level headed one. Nathan snapped out of his reverie and ran to Jades side. They walked in a semi-awkward silence before Nathan broke the silence.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to act like that. Yesterday really got me thinking about how this could be real and that we might actually get hurt.” Nathan admitted. He didn’t want to die, and he didn’t want to lose Jade.

“It’s alright. It is scary thinking that we may die but we might not and that’s what I like to think about. We will find out what’s happening and write the most epic story the town has ever seen!” Jade exclaimed cheerily, making Nathan chuckle at Jade’s enthusiasm and made him forget his worries for a moment. 

The reporters walked for a little while longer before reaching the police station. It wasn’t the biggest building they have seen because the town was considered small and quiet. The police usually sat around eating doughnuts and watching videos, Jade doubted they did any work. The duo had agreed that a good place to start looking for information was the police themselves, if there was a murderous group in the woods then the police were bound to know something even if it was a small amount of information, it was a start. 

Walking into the police station the duo headed for the front desk. The female policeman behind the desk looked intensely at her computer with her mouse clicking furiously as she played some game. Jade cleared her throat and pausing her game the police woman looked up at them with a raised eyebrow.  
“Can I help you?” The police woman asked sounding slightly annoyed.

“Yes. We are local reporters looking for information on our recent topic and we would like to ask the police force questions regarding our subject.” Jade professionally stated with a clear voice as she and Nathan pulled out their reporter ID. The police woman rolled her eyes and pointed to the door that leads to the police workstations before returning to her game.

Jade glanced at Nathan who gave her a shrug before heading through the door. When they had entered they were met with the police slouching in their chairs, eating food, having loud chats or arguments across the room and absolutely no work being done. Jade pinched the bridge of her nose while groaning she knew this was going to be a pain.

“Well I’ll be. Is that Jade Allens and Nathan Barler.” A male voice chimed from the right. Jade and Nathan gave an exasperated look to each other, both instantly recognizing the voice.

“Good morning officer Starlen.” The reporters groaned in unison.

“whoa tone down the excitement guys, no need to celebrate.” Officer Starlen said arrogantly, giving them a smug grin as he approached the reporters.

Ashley Starlen was his full name, he had been a policeman since Jade and Nathan became reporters. They had all grown up together and Ashley had not changed, he was still self-centred and annoying but as always, he could be so sweet and actually had a kind heart. Ashley was broad with a noticeable amount of muscle with short blond hair, blue eyes and slightly tanned skin, he wore a noticeable bracelet on his left wrist that was made up of semi-thick rectangles of silver that looked like you could fit something small inside of them if they were hollow. Ashley had decided that it was his life purpose to inconvenience the reporters at all costs and to keep an eye on them, in case of emergencies.

“We’re here on official business. If you can not give us information you’ll have to leave us alone while we are here. Got it.” Jade pulled the cold-hearted professional card. Nathan had to hold back a snicker as Ashley recoiled a little at Jade’s sudden coldness.

“Yeah we’re very busy and need to collect info from here before we go searching for other sources.” Nathan chimed in with the best business voice he could muster.  
“Ok, jeez guys, lighten up will ya. I was just saying hi to my friends that I haven’t seen for a while.” Ashley pouted sticking his bottom lip out a little.

“We saw you last week and you call us regularly. We live in the same town and I’m pretty sure you’ll be the first one to know if we went missing, you are really clingy.” Nathan explained as if Ashley didn’t understand.

“Am not! I just like to look out for my friends.” Ashley defended. 

“Yes, you are, and you know it.” Jade sighed with a faint smile.

“Ok, ok just ask your questions already.” Ashley said annoyed. 

Jade pinched the bridge of her nose as she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a small, black note book with a pen placed within the spiral spine. Nathan did the same as Jade and pulled out a small gold note book with a pen.

“Alrighty, do you know the rumours of masked people in Cerlin?” Jade asked with a lightly chipper voice.

“Yes, I do know about them. It’s pretty hard to ignore such a popular rumour.” Ashley answered a little confused by the topic of interest.

“Have you had a personal experience with the group?” Nathan followed up.

“well no, I haven’t but maybe someone else has.” Ashley explained a little awkwardly like he was uncomfortable with the subject.

“Is there any evidence that the group exists that the police wont share with the public?” Jade pressed as she wrote notes in her book.

“I’m not authorized to give out information such as evidence until it is authorized to be released to the public, Sorry.” Ashley stated as he glanced sideways to see that some officers were obviously listening to their conversation.

“It’s alright, if it’s prohibited then it’s prohibited.” Jade said disappointedly.

Nathan gave Jade a questioning gaze that asked if he should ask the next question, Jade gave back a slight nod.

“Officer Starlen are you aware that there is a copious amount of blood pooled on the forest floor, mid-way down the local hiking trail where it could easily be found by a passer-by?” Nathan asked with a serious tone to his voice.

Ashley was taken aback by the use of his title before he became tense at the question. The room had all but became silent as the police officers gaze glances to each other. It had been apparent that the officers were listening, and Jade knew she had hit some sort of nerve. Ashley stuttered as he tried to find the right words but couldn’t get his head around what Nathan had just asked.

Another officer had stood up behind Ashley and was now making his way to Ashley’s side. Laying a hand on Ashley’s shoulder the officer gave a no nonsense look at the reporter duo.

“This better not be a stunt, joking like this is a serious offense and you will be punished.” The officer growled in a deep voice.

“Why would we joke about this? That’s sick and what makes you think we’re joking?” Jade questioned confidently, she wasn’t intimidated easily.

“Nothing serious has happened in this town for years, it would be unlikely for serious cases to start up now plus you reporters are always trying to stir up trouble.” The officer stated while keeping eye contact with Jade as a way of intimidation.

Jade stood to this challenge and stood up as strait as she could while giving the officer a disgusted look, “To start up now! Are serious cases just an annoyance to you!” Jade exclaimed stepping closer to the two officers. She had had enough stress the past two days and being accused of being a liar was not going to be added to the growing pile. Nathan gave a startled and nervous look as he reached to tug Jades sleeve. 

“Jade please calm down! We have our info, we don’t need to stir them up. It’s not a big deal! Your overreacting!” Nathan pleaded but his pleads only seemed to give Jade more determination.

“No! I won’t calm down!” Jade fumed, shaking Nathans hand off her.

“What kind of police man sees cases as a bother or a game of chance!” Jade yelled at the officer. She almost seemed to be addressing the entire room.

“Ma’am it’s not like that, I was just simply stating that there haven’t been many cases that has caused concern within the town and any that had, were not serious as they could be solved by the public.” The officer stated coldly with a hint of hostility.

“So missing people can be found by their friends and family! Is that it! Regardless if their mauled, starved, kidnapped or dead! How do you call yourselves a police force when all you do is sit around and accuse people of lying when they try to report a serious case!” Jade screeched.

The atmosphere in the room had went from hostile to ashamed. The officer had taken a step back at Jade’s outburst, obviously affected by her words. Ashley shook his head as he stepped in front of a fuming Jade giving her a kind smile to try and calm her.

“I believe you. Can you show me this crime scene, so I can take proper action?” Ashley said as he watched Jade compose herself from her stress fuelled rage.

Nathan had put a comforting hand on Jade’s shoulder, “Yeah we will show you. Thanks Ash.” Nathan said giving him an apologetic smile. Turning on their heels the duo quickly made their exit from the room and briskly walked through the foyer and out the building. 

Ashley looked behind him to see the officers giving him a look of approval and a look of warning. Ashley gave them a knowing nod as he followed the reporters out of the building.

“You alright Jade?” Ashley asked cautiously.

“Yeah I’m fine. I’m sorry I flipped out back there, I’ve had two stressful days and it doesn’t seem to be becoming easier plus I hate being called a liar” Jade sighed shamefully.

“It’s fine they needed a good scolding.” Ashley joked seeing Nathan crack a smile.

Ashley looked around for something’ “So did you guys need a lift? Or do you wanna walk?” Ashley offered seeing that the duo had walked to the police station from god knows where.

“Can we get a lift it’s a long walk from here.” Nathan asked gaining a smile and nod from Ashley.  
Ashley led his friends into the stations parking lot and escorted them to his police car. Jade took the passenger seat while Nathan got into the back. Ashley pulled out of the station and started driving to the forest while Jade gave some directions to the correct hiking trail. 

A few silence filled minutes past before the police car pulled off to the side of the road. Parking close to the side walk, Ashley turned the car off and turned to his friends. 

Giving both of them a reassuring look Ashley asked, “You guys sure you want to uncover this scene a second time?” concern coursed through his voice, he didn’t want them more traumatized than he guessed they were.

“It’s better if we get this off our chests and it would help knowing that at least the authorities know, even if it is an animal that died.” Nathan stated while unbuckling his seat belt.

Jade wasn’t far behind Nathan and already had the door open, “Yeah, let’s just show you what we saw, and you can decide what to do.” Jade stated as she got out of the car and closed the door. Stretching when she got out of the car she waited for the other two to join her. 

Ashley got out of the car, leaving the door open as he walked to the back of the vehicle where he opened the boot and pulled out a roll of “do not pass” tape. Ashley surveyed the trunk of gear, thinking if he needed to bring anything else with him, “Mag light? No, it’s not even dark. Rubber bullets? No, my gun is just fine. First aid kit? Maybe just some bandages and disinfectant. Extra taser prongs? Ok just a few in case their needed.” Ashley finished mumbling to himself after stuffing his pockets with four small bottles of disinfectant, bandages and four extra rounds of taser prongs. Shutting the boot Ashley made sure everything was secure before making his way to the patiently waiting duo. Giving them a nod Ashley was led down the trail by Jade and Nathan. 

Walking for a few minutes Jade stops a few feet in front of them before squinting into the forest to their right. Nathan and Ashley reached her side and stared in the direction that Jade was squinting at. Jade makes a small ‘ah hah’ noise before striding into the shrubbery and waved a hand behind her in a motion saying they should follow. Nathan grabbed Ashley by the wrist and softly led him towards Jade. After a moment Ashley’s wrist was released as he was now standing in the middle of some foliage.

Taking a glance around Ashley saw that the plants around the area were slightly snapped and bent, showing that something had stepped or fell on them. Giving a glance to his friends Ashley saw that Nathan was glancing nervously around and seemed to be a little on edge, as if he was waiting for something to pounce on him. Jade on the other hand was seemingly calm but Ashley could see the minuet glances she gave to her surroundings, she was also on edge, but Ashley couldn’t figure out why.

As Ash stared at his friends Jade raised her hand to point down at the ground next to them. Ashley gave Jade a quick look before crouching down and moving the broken plants to see what Jade had pointed to. Ashley recoiled a little as he saw the maroon colored dirt beneath the plants. Sucking in a breath he dug through his pockets for a small swab, finding one Ashley stuck the swab into the dirt collecting some bloody dirt and placed it into a clear evidence bag. Standing up, Ashley placed the bag intone of his vest pockets.

Turning to jade Ashley asks, “Do you know how old this is or how big the area is?”

Jade shrugs, “We have a rough estimate of how big it is, but it was pretty fresh when we stumbled upon it.” She said nonchalantly.

Nathan gave a quiet snicker, “Stumbled upon, more like slipped on.” He chuckled giving Jade a small nudge.

“Oh, hush you!” Jade hissed while both boys gave a chuckle.


	3. cars are flammable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warning: descriptions of gore.  
> explosions happen

After putting up a barrier of tape Ashley, Jade and Nathan were making their way back down the hiking trail with friendly banter of past years. The mood had been solemn and suffocating until Jade decided to bring up random memories from when they were younger. Chuckling and laughing at the old memories and times of when they were kids.

“yeah! Then she just stormed out of the room with glitter slime all over her!” Nathan exclaimed with a wide grin.

“It was the best assault from the terrible trio yet!” Ashley added on with a mile-long grin across his face.

“I still can’t believe the teachers dubbed us the terrible trio. We were little angles!” Jade said with a little sarcasm at the end of her sentence.

“Yeah! Angles with horns and glued on feathers!” Ashley protested loudly.

The trio laughed whole heartedly, giving playful jabs and throwing teasing insults at each other like they had just come back from a reunion. They walked at a leisurely pace down the quiet trail, the sun was shining brightly in it’s midday position, throwing leafy shadows over the trail and gave a tranquil feeling to the forest like nothing could break its entrancing depths. 

The trio had reached the patrol car in a cacophony of laughs and playful banter, Jade stood at the back door of the car as she watched Nathan head to the passenger seat door and Ashley to the driver seat, not bothering to take the supplies out of his vest and pockets. Jade smiled as Nathan said something to Ash over the top of the car, but she didn’t listen to what was said as she felt a sudden sense of awareness, she could hear the leaves rustling, branches creaking, her friends and ticking. The front door was never closed when they left. Jade gave a worried and confused look at Ashley before ripping open the car door and listened to the ticking getting louder and more frequent as she searched the back of the car. 

Ash jumped in surprise at Jades sudden action but quickly became confused as he watched his friend search the car, Ash gave Nathan a questioning look while Nathan gave Ash a worried look and a shrug of his shoulders. Nathan walked over behind Jade to try and ask her what was going on. Ashley opened the car door and sat in his seat, Ashley froze. Ticking filled his ears as he took in the sleek black box sitting on his dash board behind his steering wheel. The box was small, easily fitting behind his wheel, the box sported a smiling face that had a flower as the left eye and a wide, crazed eye for the right, supported by a wide Cheshire grin and the word “SMILE!” written underneath. The box also had a small clock counting down, already at 00:07.

Ashley realized what it was, “RUN!” Ashley screamed as he flung himself out of the car and broke into a well-trained sprint.

Jade and Nathan heard Ashley’s command and happily obliged. Jade pulled out of the car, turned on her heels and sprinted past Nathan. Nathan on the other hand stumbled as he tried to turn, finding his footing he broke into a run, seconds felt like minutes as they ran. Nathan had almost caught up to Jade when he felt a sudden burst of heat from behind him, he was flung into Jade by the force of the explosion, landing heavily on Jades back. Jade fell to the ground when she heard the car explode and suddenly got hit from behind, a sharp pain spread through Jades back when she connected with the ground. Jade slid forward with Nathan rolling off of her as they were propelled further by the blast, looking up, Jade couldn’t see Ashley, she could feel the worry stirring within her as she tried to look around. Pain shot through her with every move, painfully Jade turned her head to the right to look at Nathan, who was laying on his side facing away from her. Jade could see that Nathan had been closer to the car than her and Ash, his shirt was singed open, the skin on his back was raw, some areas had peeled back exposing his twitching tissue and muscles, small shards of metal and glass were lodged between the tendons and scattered across his skin along with bleeding gashes that mangled his back.

Jade tried to roll onto her side, but pain flared through her body, grimacing at the pain, Jade closed her eyes and let out a sigh as her muscles started relaxing, releasing the tension and dismissing the pain. She couldn’t feel her fingers now, her arms and legs were too weak to move, her body shuddered and stung with each breath, she lay there with her head resting on the ground letting everything wash over her.

Jade listened to the reality around her the screeching of metal as it scrapes together while melting, cracking glass, fire crackling, groaning. Jade listened as she heard Nathan let out low pain filled groans that soon morphed into soft hiccups, whimpers and sobs, Jade frowned as Nathan cried, the sobs had gotten louder soon transforming into blood curdling wails. Jade felt something hot run down her cheeks, she hadn’t noticed the tears she was shedding, how long had she been crying? She didn’t know the answer, but she knew that they were for her suffering friend, these tears were not meant for her. Jade tried to open her eyes but found she couldn’t, the numbness was spreading, she could no longer feel her arms and legs. 

The smell of a burning concoction filled her senses, the smell had the strength of petrol, the subtleness of welded metal, the sting of plastic and the lingering of roasted electronics, it was a horrid smell. Jade wished she could get away from it, to get up and help Nathan, find Ash and walk home to rest, she wished she could cry and wail like Nathan, to release her pain in a scream, anything. Jade couldn’t feel anything anymore, her fingers, legs, arms, she couldn’t tell if she was even breathing or crying anymore.

Coming back to reality Jade heard heavy thumping noises coming from her right, focusing on the sound Jade could tell that there was more than one set of thumps. As the uneven cacophony came closer Jade started hearing voices, there was five of them, two high pitched ones and three deeper ones, they sounded worried or panicked, Jade couldn’t tell, the sounds around her started to make her head spin and everything started merging together, the smell had become worse making Jade feel nauseous. 

The thumping had stopped, giving Jade a small amount of relief. Jade felt two warm patches on her body, one moving up and down her left arm and one fixed on her shoulder, was someone touching her? Giving an almost inaudible groan Jade heard a female voice to her left yell, “She’s still alive!”

Noticing a sudden silence Jade strained to hear her friends, Nathan had stopped screaming and was now quietly sobbing as another female voice comforted him, “shhh it’s going to be okay, we’re getting you help. Just hold on for us okay?” The voice was only met with a sob. The girl beside Jade yelled to someone presumably in the distance, “Is there anyone else!?” The shriek struck pain through Jades head before a male voice answered from somewhere behind her, “There’s a cop over here! He’s conscious but he isn’t responding! He might be in shock!” The boy said. Another two male voices were jumbling together but Jade could pick up on some of the words, “A car has exploded… three people… policeman down… one’s not moving… need fire department… need an ambulance!” the two voices were probably contacting the emergency services. Jade would have released a sigh of relief if she could, they found Ash, her friends were still with her, they were going to get help.  
Feeling at ease with knowing that her friends are there with her, Jade let the world fade out, silence spread like welcoming call as the darkness swallowed her.


	4. Hospital?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade awakens in a hospital room but she can't move. something isn't right in this hospital.

Nothing was all around her, she couldn’t feel her body, she could no longer hear the chaos she was just witnessing, it was just nothing, a void. How long has she been here? Jade didn’t care, she couldn’t muster the energy to move or speak so she just listened to the hum of silence. 

Staring into the darkness Jades ears twitched as the hum started to falter into a slow rhythmic pattern like it was being filtered by a fan. The sound sped up ever so slightly as time past until it stopped on a fast-monotonous pace. The hum continued for a while until it rapidly shifted tune into a higher pitch while gaining a slight hitch and squeak in between bursts. The sound was no longer a hum but something that resembled the laugh of a person. The laugh became more fluent, gaining pitch and twisting into maniacal laughter. It bellowed from nowhere and echoed everywhere, it vibrated through Jades body and made her ears ring. 

The darkness started to shift and slither around her like snakes before contorting into round balls while changing colours rapidly. The flashing spheres stopped flashing, staying one solid colour before they started to pulse with the laughing that hadn’t ceased. Jade couldn’t stand it, her head was pounding without pain, her vision swam with the colours and her stomach churned with the sickening display. The pulsing quickly turned to vicious vibrating, the orbs shook until suddenly stopping before shrinking as if they were imploding. The sphere became the size of marbles before suddenly exploding into a flood of colours, an ear-piercing maniacal scream surged through the space as it flooded. 

Jade found the strength to close her eyes before the colours hit her, after a few seconds had past Jade opened her eyes to a field of giant multicoloured flowers. It was beautiful. The screaming had stopped, it was quiet again. Jade stared into the field of colour, scanning each flower and colour for an answer. A soft chuckle rang through the silence accompanied by a more unstable chuckle before the void returned to black.

Jades eyes fluttered open with a groan, fluorescent lights flooding her vision before clearing to present a white, sterile room. Jade scanned her surroundings for a few minutes before concluding that she was inside a hospital room. With great effort Jade lifted a hand to her face and inspected it, her hand and arm was covered in many medical patches and bandages. Letting her hand fall to her side Jade let out a tired sigh, her body was drained of all energy, she could barley keep her eyes open. Her body was so tense, and she could barely feel her toes.

Blankly staring at the ceiling Jade listened to the sounds of the hospital, screaming children and adults alike, crying, coughing and all the common sounds of a hospital. As Jade listened, the sound of shoes became clear and started to come closer until they stopped next to her bedside. Straining her head to the side Jade made eye contact with a slightly baffled nurse who held a clipboard to her chest. She was quite beautiful with her short brown pixie cut hair, her light hazel eyes and her tan skin. The nurse stared at Jade for a few more seconds before stating.

“You’re awake! You were supposed to be out of it for at least a few more days!” she said astounded. As she spoke Jade could hear that she had a Spanish or Mexican accent, Jade couldn’t determine which accent it was through her hazyness.

“H-how long…. was I out?” Jade asked weakly. 

“Around five days.” The nurse stated.

“F-fi… five days?” Jade repeated quietly.

“Yes, ma’am it’s astounding that you reclaimed consciousness from such an accident, in such little time too. If I’m gonna be honest I thought, you would slip into a coma.” The Nurse said nonchalantly.

“Why is… it hard to… move a-and speak?” Jade said through gritted teeth as she tried to sit up in her bed.

“Well that would be because you were hit in the back by a shard of metal from the car when it exploded. The metal shard was launched into an area of your back close to your spine and we suspect it may have given you temporary paralysis which may have been the reason you were knocked out for so long. But we can’t tell if there are any lasting effects.” The nurse explained as she wrote something on her clipboard.

There was a brief silence between the two. Jade noticed how quiet the nurse was when she moved but she assumed that was from all the practice she must have had, sneaking around sleeping patients. Jade gave a small huff as she swayed her head to the other side of her bed. After a few more silent seconds the nurse quietly spoke.

“Maybe next time you decide to snoop around in something you don’t understand, the boys won’t be so merciful.” The nurse whispered sinisterly.

Jades eyes widened as she flung her head to the side as fast as she could manage but when she did, the nurse was no where to be seen, as if she vanished into thin air. Jade gave a quick scan around the entrance of the room but there was no sign of the nurse or her departure. Jade peered to the small table next to her bed where the nurse’s clipboard sat. Forcing her hand to life jade reached across to claim the board. Weakly grabbing the corner of the board Jade gave her full focus into not letting the slim piece of wood slip between her fingers as she slowly retracted her sluggish and aching arm. Finally retrieving the board Jade lifted it to her face and read what the mysterious nurse had wrote.

The shadows have eyes, the forest has ears and the wind whispers tragic lies. We are your worst fear. We are always here.

Jade stared at the rhyme lazily for a few moments before letting the board fall to her side along with her exhausted arm. Jade gave a fatigued sigh as she closed her eyes again. She could feel her body pulsing with each heartbeat, the rush of blood with every beat, her nerves tingling with a rebound sense of touch, she could feel the minute pools of energy coursing through here and trying to gather into something that would propel the body into action, but they evaporated before she could use them. Jade closed her eyes, focusing on her body, willing it to move and jolt to life but it remained in a pained dormant state. Jade tried one more time to move, ever so slowly she lifted her arms and placed them on the bed before slowly lifting herself off the bed into a sitting position.

“well that’s progress” Jade rasped out quietly to herself.

A sharp pain flared to life in her back causing her to jolt upright and let out a pained gasp as tears welled in her eyes before it vanished and left her panting from the pain. Jade groaned between breathes before willing her legs to slide over the side of the bed, her feet were a few inches off the ground and jade new this was going to send her tumbling. Jade took a deep breath in to steel herself before jumping off the bed.

‘I need to get out of here, that lady knows where I am and she didn’t seem too pleased that I’m awake’ jade thought to herself,’ I need to find Nathan and Ash, we need to leave something isn’t right.’

With that last thought in her head Jade slid off the bed stiffly, her legs barely catching her before she fell completely to the floor. Jade took a few minutes to compose herself and gather some energy before pushing herself into an upright standing position. Jade grabbed the small table next to the bed as support before stumbling her way into the wall which she used as support and a pathway to the door. Jade staggered up to the door and pushed it open with a great amount of energy, the doors gave way, sending jade tumbling out with a squeal of old hinges. Jade lay face down on the dusty floorboards for what seemed like forever trying to gather her energy to get up. 

‘why would a hospital put doors on a patient room, wouldn’t it be open for quick access? Also, why would a hospital have such dusty floors and why would they have floorboards instead of concrete and lino?’ jade thought as she propped herself up on her elbows. 

On her elbows Jade swivelled her head from side to side to get a good look at the hallway. It was an old looking hall, covered in dust, the wood was cracked and splinting with old age almost like it was an old floor in a condemned house. Looking behind her jade saw an old door that was now hanging off its snapped hinges, showing the contents of the room she was previously in, an old wood room with peeling sickly white wallpaper that stretched all the way out the door and down the hall, the bed jade previously occupied was now dishevelled with its old, fraying blankets thrown beside it and the old metal frame rusted with age along with a disintegrating mattress. The room was decorated with an old dresser and a matching cabinet that have both been lovingly redecorated with graffiti, there was not much else after that apart from a small rug that was half torn and vanishing from age and an open window that acted as the only light source for the room and hall with the last rays of the almost fully set sun.

Jade was perplexed at the situation and momentarily found herself laying on the ground before she heard the shuffle of feet from down the hall. Jade instantly thought it was the woman from before and in response rallied her newfound energy to her limbs to clamber up the wall into a standing position. By the time Jade found her feet the footsteps were closer, and she knew that if she tried to run now the person would catch her, so she stood her ground in an attempt to think of a better plan.

The shuffling was extremely close now and from out of the darkness of the hallway jade could see a figure shuffling towards her slowly, she didn’t know if it was for suspense, intimidation or because the person could not see in the dim hall, which ever it was, jade was ready to do something if she needed to. The figure approached slowly and out of the darkness came a tired looking Nathan. Nathan was slumped a little as he walked into the light but the minute, he saw jade he brightened up like the sun had never left.

“oh, thank god, you’re here, I thought Ash and I had lost you for a while” Nathan said as he shuffled closer to Jade.

On closer inspection Jade could see that Nathan had no shirt on and was now sporting a chest covered in yellow, decaying pieces of fabric that she assumed were once yellow. Nathan was wearing his pants from before, but they were burnt in places and look like they were a cat’s scratching post for a minute of two. Jade also noticed that Nathan had no shoes on, which led to her checking her feet and sure enough she wasn’t wearing any either. Now that she thinks about it she didn’t see her shoes anywhere, she was vaguely worried about where they were. As her eyes wondered she also noticed that her once white bandages were now made of the same yellowing fabric that Nathans makeshift bandages were made of.

“where are we?” Jade asked, her voice growing stronger from use.

“ummm… I thought it was a hospital at first but when a weird guy nurse came in and said something about messing with secrets is forbidden and then left, I git up to follow and the entire place changed into this dilapidated place.” Nathan said with thick confusion evident in his voice.

“huh I had a female nurse who said something about the boys going easy on us? But I couldn’t get up right away so when she vanished, I just kinda laid there confused until my body discovered that it has limbs that can move” Jade half joked to her friend.

“Do you need a hand with walking? I’ll help if you do” Nathan offered with a little worry from Jades statement.

“uh, yes please, I keep locking up every once in a while” Jade said with a little worry laced in her voice.

Nathan walked to Jades side and threw her arm around his shoulders. Making sure Jade was okay they proceeded to walk into the dark hallway that Nathan had emerged from, as they walked they didn’t notice the cabinet door quietly squeak open as a small figured male slipped out and quietly made his way to the open window before sliding through the opening and dropping down the two stories, only to pop up and vanish into the shadows cast by the approaching night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp that was a ride.  
> Hope you liked it so far. another chapter will be out soon so bare with me.  
> Have a good rotation of the Earth until then!


End file.
